Category Archives: Modding

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This week’s modder interview is with Aki TeliÃ¶, also known as Skycaptain within the BGS forums. The 24-year-old from Finland is studying Engineering in the Helsinki University of Technology and, like myself, is a strong supporter of frisbee golf. As he puts it, “It’s a perfect past time hobby for a student, I like the fact that anyone can have fun playing the full 18 ‘holes’ without any experience at all, but the more you learn the more you find out there is to it.”

Of course, when Skycaptain isn’t studying for frolfing, he’s spending time modding Oblivion, hence the interview.

Tjoz from our Star Trek forums has informed me that their mod project for Star Trek: Legacy, entitled The Aftermath, is coming along nicely as they work towards releasing “Stage 2.” To get a glimpse, check out the trailer above and then head over to download the Stage 2 beta. According to Tjoz, here are some of the plans for this Legacy mod:

Here’s a few cool Elder Scrolls mods that you might want to check out for yourself over at Planet Elder Scrolls, as well as details relating to a new contest over at Oblivion Real Estate.

While many modders try to replace textures to clean up the look of Oblivion, Elioden Ward has decided to use his modding skills to trash the city of Bravil. With the “Dirtier Bravil” mod (shown above), the town of Bravil has been touched up to have a dingier apperance to go along with the lore of the city. Hey, is that the Potomac River?

Moving to Morrowind, Catherine799 has uploaded her first house mod for the game. Her mod, the Balmora Treehouse, seems like a place that Frodo or Bilbo Baggins might take a keen interest in, as the home located in Balmora is actually a home built from a tree.

Speaking of homes, if you’re into modding your own for Oblivion, you might want to check out The Oblivion Real Estate’s MORE Challenge. For those that missed this post, Oblivion Real Estate is a site dedicated for modders that have worked on creating new homes for Oblivion using the TES Construction Set. The competition is to build a house using only architecture from the MORE website. You can enter by signing up on the thread at Oblivion’s Real Estate forum (you’ll probably have to join to see the page).

This week we’re chatting with David Molinero, better known in the Morrowind modding community as Connary. For a living, Molinero works as a freelance digital illustrator; work that includes doing scenery layouts for books and television spots. In the last year, he also spent time participating in some amateur videogame development. When he’s not working, he likes to “get lost, preferably in a fantasy world.”

This past week Connary took the time to answer some questions about his contributions to the Morrowind modding community. Here’s what he had to say:

Looking through our BGS forums today, I came across a fantastic Oblivion fan trailer from Azumoth. It’s just over a minute long, but it does a great job showing some cool parts of the game, including work done by the modding community. You can also view a high-res version here or jump into the forums to discuss it.

A reminder, if you have videos you’d like to share on the blog, send them over to us for us to admire.

Here’s another update on some mods you might want to give a try for Oblivion.

If you’re looking for mods that affect how your character levels up, Stormcaller has put some stuff up on Planet Elder Scrolls worth looking into. First, the Attribute Booster mod allows you to have more chances to get a +5 modifier in the categories you’re interested in bolstering. On the other hand, if you’re concerned your character is progressing too quickly, her Level Pacer mod might be more your style, as this will slow down the rate to which your character levels up.

This week’s mod interview is with Morrowind modder, Mike Niccum (aka Darknut). Residing in Fayetteville, AR, Mike spends his days working as the boss of his graphic design company, Graphics By Mike, Inc. In his sparetime, Mike spends his time playing music (he played professionally for 14 years) and of course, working on projects for Morrowind. Above you’ll find the trailer to Mike’s latest project, Darknut’s Greater Dwemer Ruins, which will be available to modders this November.

You’re done quite a bit for the Morrowind community. What got you hooked on modding the game?

I really can’t pinpoint any one thing. Morrowind is one of my all-time favorite games & the open nature of it really lends itself to modding. The tools Bethesda & others have made available makes it pretty easy to boot.

It was brought to my attention that one of our community members within the BGS forums, Leo Gura (aka Liquidgraph), has submitted his Oblivion mod, The Lost Spires, for the 10th Annual Independent Games Festival Student Showcase competition. For those that haven’t heard of the The Lost Spires, we talked about it a couple of weeks ago on the blog. You can also check out the mod’s official website here.

Anyhow, lets wish Leo (representing Cal-Irvine) good luck in the festival! Check out information on his submission and others over at IGF’s site.

This week’s modder interview is with Paul Connelly, who is better known within the BGS forums as scruggsywuggsy the ferret (perhaps the longest name in the forums). Connelly, who lives on a farm outside of Allentown, PA, is currently working as a college student, though he claims he’s too old to still be there. Since I don’t have a picture, I gather he’s probably an icon for the younger college kids (a la Jeremy Piven in PCU or John Belushi in Animal House…pick whichever generation you prefer). If he’s not, well he should be, because members are our forums are big fans of his mod work and his tendency to lend a helping hand.

Well, the end of the month is nearing, so that means a couple things. You can expect Todd to be dressed up for Halloween as Notre Dame’s mascot (truly scary this year), our Fallout Anniversary Contest will be wrapping up in just over a week, and last but not least, Planet Elder Scrolls has inducted its October Hall of Fame entries for mod work on Oblivion.